Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

In related news, I read USA Today this morning at my local coffee shop. The thrust of the USA Today report was "Blame Halliburton". Oh, and the USA Today report made sure to list the units the casualties came from. Just to make sure the families back in the US could worry for a while. Shame on you, USA Today, for attempting to make political hay from American combat deaths.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

"The final tear came after the election. Mfume suggested sending a letter to President Bush, mapping out ways that they could work together to help the community. Bond rejected the idea. Mfume sent the letter anyway. To Bond, this was an unforgivable. A few weeks later, Bond had Mfume voted out. The message was clear: There is no room within the NAACP for intellectual diversity. Just loyal servitude to the Democratic Party."

Sunday, December 05, 2004

By twisting logic into a pretzel, the New York Times manages to blame the USA for the UN Oil-for-Palaces program.

Money quote:

"Kofi Annan's role will also have to be laid out fully. He has, unfortunately, issued inconsistent statements about the role of his son, Kojo Annan, in working abroad for a Swiss company that won a contract to monitor imports under the oil-for-food program. The whiff of nepotism has set the hounds baying, and may bring grief to Mr. Annan, but what all that has to do with Saddam Hussein's illicit billions remains murky."

Ah yes, murky. Ummmm, let me clear the murk: Saddam Hussein bought Kofi Annan. He bought Kofi's son. He bought Contecna. He bought Benon Savan. He bought the UN. Hell, he even bought a member of the UK Parliament (Galloway's recent court victory had nothing to do with the truth of the charges.) Saddam then used these people and institutions to sell his oil, and spent the profits on his comfort and on maintaining his power. There. How clear is that?

It's about time for the President proposed an alternative to the UN, open only to countries with decently long histories of representative government. Take the US system for admitting states as a model, and use it in this new organization. The US, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, etc., would be in and could stay in only by continuing to have representative governments. Saudi Arabia, North Korea, China, Iran, etc., would be out, but could be admitted if they changed their ways. The UN could be left to the dictatorships and kleptocracies. It could move its headquarters to, oh, Geneva (after paying its NYC parking tickets), and leave the existing UN buildings to the new United Democratic Nations. Ensconced in Geneva, the UN could then wallow in its own crapulence and enjoy a long, slow downward spiral into irrelevance.